Jay Russell Gunter

Jay Russell Gunter, age 56, of Jonesboro, Arkansas joined his Lord in Heaven on Tuesday morning, May 18 ^th , 2021 after a long battle with cancer.  Jay Gunter was born July 23, 1964 at St. Bernard’s Hospital in Jonesboro to Jack H. and Priscilla (Sparrow) Gunter of Fisher, Arkansas.

Jay was a 1982 graduate of Weiner High School, a 1986 graduate of Oral Roberts University with a bachelor’s degree in Marketing, and afterwards attended University of Texas at Austin while studying for his MBA.  Jay’s professional career was varied, having been a Fisher rice farmer, owner of a rice dryer and warehouse at Waldenburg, rough rice exporter to Mexico and Central America, author of a subscription rice market newsletter, a dealer and general contractor for MFS grain drying and storage systems across the mid-South, a counselor for at-risk adolescents in Alaska, before launching The Refinery, a Jonesboro ladies’ boutique, in 2009 which he enjoyed operating with his wife Lisa, cherished staff, and employees.

Jay is survived by his daughter Halle Gunter of Jonesboro, and wife Lisa (Stephens) Gunter and their two children, Finley and Judah.  Additional survivors are his mother, Priscilla Gunter; sisters Jill Ann Gunter and Joy Alicia (James) Johnson, all of Kalispell, Montana; and a brother, John Robert Gunter, of Fisher.  Jay is also survived by four nephews, six nieces, and numerous grand-nephews/nieces.  Jay is preceded in death by his father, Jack Henderson Gunter of Fisher in 2003, paternal grandparents John Wylie and Gladys (Wixson) Gunter of Fisher, and maternal grandparents Theodore Roosevelt and Marion (Marley) Sparrow, Sr. of Pittston, Maine.

Jay was a Memphis Grizzlies and Arkansas State University sports fan and lifelong enthusiast of basketball, motorcycles, and beach scenery.  Jay enjoyed traveling across the USA, Mexico, and Central America for both business and pleasure.  Jay and wife Lisa had accumulated properties in Belize with a view towards developing ventures in the hospitality industry and eventual semi-retirement there until his health problem arose.  All those blessed to know Jay appreciated his carefree personality, depth of compassion for everyone he knew, appetite for all things involving statistics, and capacity for investment analytics.

A memorial service is planned for late June or July in Jonesboro, with details to be released when they become available, under the direction of Emerson Funeral Home.  Jay touched many people from varied educational, professional, and social circles and the family wishes to provide those who knew Jay an opportunity to share their memories with one another and his family.  Jay’s remains will be cremated and spread over the family rice farm east of Fisher, with a marker placed at Fisher Cemetery.  For lasting memorials, contributions to the Flo and Phil Jones Hospice House, 1148 E. Matthews, Jonesboro, Arkansas, 72401.  To sign an online guestbook, go to emersonfuneralhome.com.